1. FC Köln: After a 0-0 draw against SC Freiburg, there is a threat of seventh relegation

Sports Bundesliga

Cologne missed the win – and could have been relegated on Sunday

As of: 8:48 p.m. | Reading time: 4 minutes

1. FC Köln disappointed with a 0-0 draw in the game against SC Freiburg. After missing out on victory, the cult club is threatened with its seventh relegation from the Bundesliga in just 26 years. A decision can be made on this match day.

This zero number was far too little: 1. FC Köln’s seventh relegation from the Bundesliga in just 26 years can hardly be prevented. After the 0-0 draw against SC Freiburg in the third-to-last game of the season on Saturday evening, the collapse of the three-time German champions could be sealed on Sunday.

Should 1. FC Union Berlin and VfL Bochum draw at lunchtime and 1. FSV Mainz 05 win at 1. FC Heidenheim on Sunday evening, Cologne’s last theoretical chance would also be gone. “For Cologne it felt like the last chance,” said Freiburg player Christian Günter. “They still have a small chance left. The club, this stadium deserves to be in the first league. Ultimately, that’s what counts on the pitch.”

After previous relegations, FC came back four times in the first year and twice in the second year. But the transfer ban by the world association Fifa, which prohibits Cologne from signing players in the summer, makes the mission more difficult than ever. “They play sloppy balls. The will was there, but the routes weren’t right,” said Sky expert Lothar Matthäus after the game. “They didn’t bring the quality to the pitch today either and are therefore very close to the second division.”

Christian Streich before his third European Cup qualification

At Freiburg, in his 389th and third-to-last game as SC coach, Christian Streich increased the likelihood of saying goodbye with the third European Cup qualification in a row. Eighth place is probably enough this year, Freiburg is currently seventh, the remaining program with games against Heidenheim and at Union seems solvable. “We will leave everything on the pitch,” announced Günter on Saturday evening.

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However, the Breisgauer team missed out on their fourth away win in a row against Streich’s favorite opponent – he didn’t win against anyone more often – and thus a club record. Streich takes a curious statistic with him: in his entire coaching career he remained unbeaten in top games on Saturday evening, the 58-year-old played eight of them with the SC.

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The offensive has been Cologne’s Achilles heel since the start of the season. And in this important game, coach Timo Schultz even started without a trained striker. Davie Selke and Mark Uth were injured, Steffen Tigges and Sargis Adamyan were on the bench.

As did captain Florian Kainz again until the 68th minute. Not a striker, but also an offensive force. A classic winger, Faride Alidou, started in the offensive center. But he acted extremely unhappy. Significant scene: After a shot from around 20 meters from a good central position, there was almost a throw-in (35th).

Fight for the ball: Cologne’s Jeff Chabot (above) against Freiburg’s Roland Sallai

Quelle: Getty Images/Christof Koepsel

Nevertheless, in contrast to the last two games, the Cologne team at least started forward with courageous play. Linton Maina had a real chance to take the lead in the third minute, but narrowly missed from ten meters. After 17 minutes, Eric Martel dangerously deflected a shot from Jan Thielmann with his heel, but Noah Atubolu in the Freiburg goal could not be outwitted.

The Freiburg team initially didn’t appear in front of the Cologne goal, but when they did, the score was close to 0-1: Vincenzo Grifo headed just wide from five meters in his 200th Bundesliga game for Breisgau (20′). Until the break it was a tough battle without any major excitement in front of either goal. The Cologne spectators noticed that the players were starting to think and cheered on their team with extremely loud chants.

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Perhaps driven by this, the Cologne team increased the vehemence of their running after the break as the continuous rain became increasingly heavy. But as is often the case, the resources were lacking. Balls that were captured were quickly lost again; there was too little structure and creativity in Cologne’s attacking efforts. And after just under an hour, defense chief Jeff Chabot, as has almost always been Cologne’s best player in recent weeks, had to leave the field injured. Alidou still had a great chance in the 71st minute, but Atubolu made a strong save with one arm.

After the game, the Cologne fans said goodbye to the team with applause despite the weak performance and the missed victory. “We would have liked to get three points,” said striker Alidou. “It hurts extremely that we don’t take advantage of our chances. We gave full throttle as a team. The coach praised us for our performance. But we can’t win games if we don’t score goals. We will believe in it until the last second. We have to hope that the other teams make mistakes.”